Green Lantern Recommended Reading

This article is part of the DC DatabaseRecommended Reading project, a series of articles written by our editors. They are meant as a guide to help both new and old readers, either getting into comics for the first time or looking to read more on their favorites. These should not be taken as a definitive guide; obviously you can start wherever and with whatever you want, but they're some general suggestions that we think you might find enjoyable.

You know that feeling you get when a comic makes you feel really good?

The Green Lantern mythos as we know it today was one of the first great break-outs of the Silver Age of comics, a concept bursting with imagination and creativity told through vibrant and powerful characters. There are thousands of heroes that make up the Green Lantern Corps, but Hal Jordan of Earth is known as the greatest even amongst their number. Gaining an ally and confidant in the architectural John Stewart and a passionate rival in the way of Guy Gardner; only Kyle Rayner could draw out the last Green Lantern of the group. They are chosen for their ability to overcome great fear, their willpower showing through their strength and determination, making for very emotionally driven stories.

New readers

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn: Jim Owsley lays the groundwork for what would be the foundation of the pivotal moments and characters that would leave an impact on the Corps and their members. Heroic to its ending, it would be the dawn of an era.

DC: The New Frontier: Brainchild of Darwyn Cooke and one of the most spectacular and memorable stories to date for the DC Universe. The New Frontier is actually a revival telling of the Silver Age, starring Hal Jordan, at the end of the Golden Age.

Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale: explores the origins of the Guardians of the Universe, the all-powerful, immortal race that gave birth to the Green Lantern Corps. It's up to a Guardian called Ganthet to recruit Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Earth, to stop one of their own from discovering the truth that will destroy the universe itself.

Geoff Johns Green Lantern This huge and widely acclaimed run by Geoff Johns. stars Hal Jordan. and is usually stated as the best Green Lantern run. highly recommended to new and older readers alike.

Green Lantern: Rebirth: Hal Jordan had fallen on hard times by the end of his life and during his time as the Spectre. Geoff Johns brings the champion of willpower back from death's grasp and back into the light of the Corps. It's the first in a line of solidifying works for the character.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge: A tale for the Corps, Geoff Johns reintroduced Hal to the Corps and now the Corps is ready and willing to make room for the world's greatest Lantern. It deals with the struggle Hal has readjusting the Corps he once destroyed.

Green Lantern: Secret Origin: Geoff Johns tells the story of Hal's officially updated origin. A flashback of the ages, it transitions smoothly without a hint of disregard for the character's original strengths and motivations.

Sinestro Corps War: Along with the return of greatest Green Lantern and his Corps comes a great evil as well. Geoff Johns disrupts the seemingly normal life Hal returns to with his greatest villain, Sinestro. It shows Sinestro's return as well as his newly created Sinestro Corps.

Further reading

Blackest Night: In Brightest Day, there are the Lantern Corps of all colors. In Blackest Night, ancient and powerful evil sets in motion to use Hal's most useless enemy in a most horrible plot to control death once and for all. Geoff Johns re-images characters from the past in a story to challenge the way death works in the DC Universe.

Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight: The fall of a champion, a willpower too strong. Ron Marz tears down the emerald warrior in a bright and intense telling of Hal Jordan's descent into madness. His decent rips the Corps down with him.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow: The Battling Bowman and Emerald Warrior take on the hard road together. Using alien weaponry and custom bows and arrows may not be enough to tackle life's struggles on Earth and across America. Dennis O'Neil takes a hard look at a rough world for the green team of the JLA.

Ion: Bridging the gap between the lucky star from JLA and the seasoned warrior with a pencil in Corps. Ron Marz was tasked with telling the tale that not only set up a single character's life for the Sinestro Corps War but a heartwarming hero of the pen.

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Oa houses the entire Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic group of willful aliens who fight to protect against injustice. Mike W. Barr and Len Wein refuse to allow the reader to see the humans of the Corps without understanding the entirety of the mythos behind the most powerful group of individuals in the galaxy.

Emerald Knights Not to be confused with the 2011 movie of the same name Emerald Knights is a six-part story that was originally published in Green Lantern vol. 3, issues #101–106. It is the story of Kyle Rayner teaming up with a pre-Parallax Hal Jordan.